into the poppy fields
by aikotters
Summary: Nene has a tendency to fall for the passion of reds, the color that bleeds pink in the snow and that stands out on paper. She chases that sunrise, dreams of it, and drinks it in.


part one

It was the tail end of winter. There really shouldn't have been the blizzard that there was. But then, this was February in New York, so she knew that she deserved what she got.

Still, she sprinted as well as she could through the snowfall towards the waiting car. She didn't want to keep the driver waiting, especially in this snow. And in this skirt no less…

 _And it's only going to get worse,_ Amano Nene thought to herself, the fabric of her mousy coat suddenly feeling too thin, her nylons expressly as though they were non-existent. So she ran, boots sliding a little on the pavement, cracking against tiny pieces of salt. She swung her door open, threw herself in, and almost slammed the door shut. Nene, shivering and wet, sneezed with as little dignity as possible.

"Brr," mumbled the other person in the backseat. "I've had to have been in here a while, I could have sworn it was warmer when I crawled in."

"And how long ago was that?" Nene teased through chattering teeth. "Much too long I bet."

"Who knows? I have no sense of time, you know." The person untangled themselves from the mess she had made of the seatbelts and moved to the tiny floor. She clambered up, warm palms against Nene's cold, clammy kneecaps. Nene didn't protest, did not fight it. She didn't want to. Instead she leaned down, hauled the girl up, and let their noses brush and lips meet.

"I know you don't," Nene finally said. "But I do and I think we've been apart much too long, Rhythm."

"Funny," Rhythm said, pink locks dangling over Nene's cheeks. "I was just thinking the same thing."

And she kissed her again, careless and soft. Nene leaned over and returned it, only letting go when the limousine pulled away, headed towards home. Rhythm hopped up beside her, buckling them both and leaning on her shoulder.

"You're freezing," she said.

Nene didn't even turn her head. "Warm me up at the hotel."

"Don't make it sound like such a burden."

It wasn't. It never was.

And Rhythm knew it the absolute tease.

* * *

Nene could honestly not remember _when_ Rhythm had appeared, just that she had been disheveled and bleeding and looking for the Digimon King. She had missed him by a good ten or twenty thousand kilometers, if not further. Hearing that the girl had given up the ghost and collapsed right in front of her, nearly into the floor of her trailer and wept uncontrollably.

It had taken a few hours to figure out why exactly, but Nene was nothing if not doggedly persistent, nothing if not devoted, determined, excited to help. Taiki had rubbed off on them all in the best and worst ways.

"I can help you find him," she said instead of any of that. "i can contact him right now."

And she had lit up like a dying star.

And the Digimon had spoken, long into the night, long after Nene herself had gone to bed. She had fallen asleep with the wrister in her hand and still disheveled. It had scared her agent terribly, but it had been worth it.

Sparrowmon had made annoyed noises at her of course, but that was just Sparrowmon around strangers. There was nothing strange about it or about her.

Except the fairy wings but Nene could work with that.

It was nice to have someone who knew the Wars, who understood them in a way that Nene could not entirely put to words. The Digimon's home had been slaughtered, leaving only Rhythm and her father behind. And soon, thanks to the Dark Stone, even that was lost. And her father had never recovered, or so she said.

In that aspect, Nene knew she was lucky. Her father was just as overprotective as always, but he was alive and sane and not trying to kill her. Rhythm could only vouce for one of those things.

And so, as anyone influenced by Taiki would do, she had volunteered to look after the girl.

Shoutmon had shrugged it off, the girl had been overjoyed.

Yuu? Yuu didn't know and up until they got out of that car and he had called her as he did every other week, she had been rather determined to keep it that way. It had been a nice six months without admitting it after all.

But then he called, disgruntled and begging for company. "Taiki-san's going to Beika for some reason and leaving me with _Tagiru._ " And for all of their friendship, apparently there was still a limited time span that either teen could tolerate the other.

"Do I want to know why Taiki-kun's going to the city with the highest crime rate in Japan?" she had asked, and he had grumbled something she hadn't bothered to decipher. His friends really were rubbing off on him. "We'll be on break for a week or so, I can drop by then." She'd meant to say "we", _shit_. She was supposed to tell him.

"It's been messy going in DigiQuartz so that might be best." His voice sounded tired, relieved, happy. "Maybe if Taiki-san comes back in time I'll have twice the insulation."

Nene couldn't help her smile, leaning into the phone and "He's grown on you. usually it would have been a much worse ordeal. Like him, Gumdramon, and his friends."

Yuu whined, which was something she took refuge in. A time had come where he could sound like a _child._ How long had it been? "You're supposed to be on my side."

"And I am, I always am." Even when she's not and that's for his own good.

He made an assenting sound and behind her, the bathroom door eked open. "I'll see you soon?" he said, voice desperately hopeful.

And she smiled and hoped he could feel it. "Of course."

The phone call soon ended. Rhythm looked at her questioningly through the brushes of her towel over her hair and the wings on her head. "What is it?"

Nene swallowed. "How do you feel about meeting my little brother?"

Rhythm blinked once, twice. Then she grinned. "Is he anything like you?"

"A little too much, if I'm honest."

"Then I can't wait.""

Nene tried not to laugh at the shameless enthusiasm. And she tried to ignore the dread and anxiety making mincemeat out of her digestive tract.

She failed at both.


End file.
